KIGALI, July 18 (Reuters) - Rwanda called on the United Nations on Wednesday to take action against peacekeepers in Congo accused of trading food and intelligence with Rwandan Hutu rebels for gold. The world body, whose biggest peacekeeping mission is deployed in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is investigating allegations made against Indian troops in eastern Congo's troubled North Kivu province. Rwandan President Paul Kagame said his government had received intelligence reports implicating U.N. peacekeepers in the alleged smuggling before reports about it appeared in the press last week. He said Rwanda had shared the information it received with regional governments and the United Nations. "Now that it is a known fact, I guess the U.N. will take necessary measures to address that situation," Kagame told reporters in the Rwandan capital. "The U.N. should ably handle that and re-dedicate the presence of their forces on the ground for the very purpose that brought them to DRC." The Hutu-dominated rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) control large areas of North Kivu along the Rwanda-Congo border. The group is composed in part of former Interahamwe militia who fled to neighbouring Congo after genocide in Rwanda that killed some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. Rwanda, which has invaded its giant neighbour twice in pursuit of the militiamen, has often blamed U.N. forces for failing to disarm the rebels, many of whom it says have escaped justice. The FDLR issued a statement dismissing the allegations as false and baseless earlier this week. The 17,000-strong U.N. mission in Congo has been credited with organising the first democratic elections in 40 years but allegations ranging from sexual abuse to killings have tarnished its reputation.
